"Hopefully, having re-signed I can continue to improve as a player and this season can be a stepping stone for the whole team to move further up the league and not leave it to the second-to-last day of the season to be safe," he told the Brewers' website.

"With the new recruits, we will be a team to be reckoned with, especially at home.

"It’s only my second season in the Championship and I have learned a lot - I can bring that into play this season and there will be others who can do that as well.

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"We have more experience as a team this season and that can only help us."

Burton Albion defender Tom Flanagan earned himself a Northern Ireland debut as a result of his Brewers' form (Image: Charles McQuillan/Getty Images)

Clough had said since Flanagan's June departure that a right-back was on his shopping list - and the 25-year-old's return means he now has one with a Championship season under his belt and a first international cap recently in the bag as well.

Flanagan earned that bow for Northern Ireland after impressing during the second half of the 2016/17 campaign for Burton, when he turned in some of his best performances in a yellow shirt against a host of the division's top wingers.